Mitt Romney has assembled a foreign-policy platform rooted in the belief that adversaries such as Russia must be confronted for backsliding on democracy and that Israel must be supported in the face of common threats such as a nuclear-armed Iran.

Advisers to the former Massachusetts governor contrast that approach and a belief in “American exceptionalism” with those of President Obama, whose foreign policy they characterize as putting its energy into trying to bargain with enemies while taking friends for granted.

“Gov. Romney believes that in foreign policy, you start with your friends,” said Eliot Cohen, who wrote the foreword to the Romney campaign’s 43-page foreign policy white paper last fall.

Foreign policy is obviously not a simple thing: the US sometimes has to deal with countries and leaders that aren’t the best on somewhat friendly terms, like with Pakistan and Mubarek’s Egypt. The Obama position, however, has been to reach out to enemies on comfy terms and blow off our allies. He’s blown of Israel and Britain many times. He dictates to allies such as France and Germany. And he shows a profound lack of diplomacy to “bad” countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. He blew off the Green Revolution in Iran and was mostly absent from the Arab Spring, which opened the door for the hardcore Islamists to start seeking power. His DOJ didn’t bother to tell the government of Mexico about the gunrunning operation Fast and Furious, which put assault weapons in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, leading to the deaths of at least 300 Mexican nationals. The list goes on.

The former Massachusetts governor “believes strongly in American exceptionalism, that America is a great country and the world is a better place if America leads,” Mr. Williamson said. “This is a huge contrast with Barack Obama. I don’t think anyone would argue that Mr. Obama believes in American exceptionalism. He believes that you should ‘lead from behind,’ whatever the heck that means.”

It’ll be interesting to see how much foreign policy plays in the upcoming election. Will there even be a debate based solely on foreign policy, as usually happens?